Fragments: Raising Funds for Syria

Sha'an d'Anthes · September 12, 2016

In mid August, a video was published of a little boy covered in blood, being pulled from the rubble in Aleppo, Syria, and put into the back of an ambulance following an airstrike - this video was shocking, it was horrific and it made me feel sick to my core. Omran, the little boy, along with a handful of other Syrian children who have made the news over the past years, represent almost 8 million children affected by the conflict that has been raging in Syria for over 5 years (a lifetime for many of these children).

I am not well-versed in politics, nor would I consider my self to be immersed in world events, but I know when something feels seriously wrong. Upon seeing this video, I felt severe sorrow and helplessness - so I jumped onto Google to see what could be done from an ocean away. I found a number of organisations who were reputable and contributing emergency aid to refugees and decided to self-initiate a project in hopes of raising funds for this cause. I decided to create a series of original paintings for sale at an affordable price in which ALL proceeds will go to emergency aid for Syrian refugees.

This is what my project looks like.

Over the next week, I will release two artworks a day, inspired by the children shown in the media who have been affected by the conflict in Syria. Each artwork represents over 1,000 children who have reportedly paid for this war with their lives - that's over 14,000 innocent children who have died in the past 5 years. Each original artwork will cost $140 AUD, and that $140 AUD in full will be donated to Care Australia. I will cover the postage, and handling.

Each painting depicts a child, double exposed with fragments that represent the rubble of war. The fragments and particles scattered across the children's silhouettes fade from light to dark - the dark being the conflict, the displacement the disruption of many families lives and their livelihoods, and the brightness being a much simpler and happy future that could be. The purchase of one painting can feed a family for one month.

I am using this project to process my research and the events that have come to my attention throughout the year, and to help refugees in crisis. I hope to sell all the artworks to raise $1,960 AUD in total for this cause. Which may not sound like much but can mean a lot for refugees who's needs are as simple as food, hygiene and shelter. I will update this journal post every day with new paintings, which you can buy simply by emailing us at chris@furrylittlepeach.com - I will indicate which paintings have sold.

Fragment 01

FRAGMENT 01 was inspired by Omran Daqneesh, the little boy who was filmed being pulled from the rubble and put into the back of an ambulance. Seeing the video of Omran prompted me to initiate this project.

FRAGMENT 02

FRAGMENT 02 was inspired by Alan Kurdi (originally reported as 'Aylan Kurdi'), the little boy who was discovered dead, washed ashore on a Turkish beach after attempting to flee to Greece in a rubber boat.

FRAGMENT 03

FRAGMENT 03 was inspired by Adi Hudea a little girl who was photographed "surrendering" to a photojournalist because she mistook his camera for a gun. This piece was bought on reserve - if you'd like to reserve a piece in advance please email us at chris@furrylittlepeach.com

FRAGMENT 04

FRAGMENT 04 was inspired by an unnamed boy who was photographed sitting in a field hospital with head injuries, following an airstrike and shelling. This piece was bought on reserve - if you'd like to reserve a piece in advance please email us at chris@furrylittlepeach.com

FRAGMENT 05

FRAGMENT 05 was inspired by an Ghina Ahmad Wadi, a ten year old girl who was wounded by sniper fire in Madaya, Syrian government forces then blocked her evacuation to medical care. Ghina has now been evacuated to a nearby hospital. This piece was bought on reserve - if you'd like to reserve a piece in advance please email us at chris@furrylittlepeach.com

FRAGMENT 06

FRAGMENT 06 was inspired by an Ali Daqneesh. One week after the video of his little brother Omran made world-wide news, Ali was wounded by a collapsing wall, resulting in broken ribs, chest wounds, internal injuries and what ultimately his death as doctor's could not repair the damage to his kidneys and liver. This piece was bought on reserve - if you'd like to reserve a piece in advance please email us at chris@furrylittlepeach.com

FRAGMENT 07

FRAGMENT 07 was inspired by Ahmed Tadifi, a two year old boy who was alone when he was brought to hospital (the same hospital that treated Omran), like many children in the aftermath of an attack he was separated from his family. He underwent surgery for serious injuries to his groin, head, arm and leg. Ahmed did not survive.

FRAGMENT 08

FRAGMENT 08 was inspired by a young girl (unnamed) who was photographed injured and covered in a layer of dust, in a makeshift hospital.

FRAGMENT 09

FRAGMENT 09 was inspired by a boy named Mahmoud. Mahmoud was filmed alongside his brother Amar (who inspired FRAGMENT 10) as they arrived at a hospital in Aleppo. The camera captured their final goodbye to brother Muhammad who died in the course of the video. I can't describe how heartbreaking it was to watch, please w atch the video here.

FRAGMENT 10

FRAGMENT 10 was inspired by a young boy named Amar. Amar was filmed alongside his brother Mahmoud (who inspired FRAGMENT 09) as they arrived at a hospital in Aleppo. The camera captured their final goodbye to brother Muhammad who died in the course of the video. I can't describe how heartbreaking it was to watch, please w atch the video here.

FRAGMENT 11

FRAGMENT 11 was inspired by an internally displaced UNNAMED BOY who was photographed selling his belongings at a makeshift stand in the rubble of rural Damascus. It was around the point of seeing this image that I began to release that these children had lost an immense part of childhood and in it's place were the burdens of being thrust into adulthood by war.

FRAGMENT 12

FRAGMENT 12 was inspired by an UNNAMED G IRL who was photographed sitting in a pile of rubble in the South Syrian town of Moadamiya. This was one of the less-widely seen images, released in FRAGMENTS. It was a quiet moment amidst a space that had seen a huge amount of chaos, and it touched me.

FRAGMENT 13

FRAGMENT 13 was inspired by a young girl named ESRAA who was photographed with her arm around her little brother Waleed on the ground near a shelter for internally displaced persons. Esraa and Waleed have not been separated like many families in areas of conflict and have been given new, warm clothes. I chose this photo because there is a glimmer of positivity, even if only in relativity to the atrocities happening elsewhere in Syria.

FRAGMENT 14

FRAGMENT 14 was inspired by an UNNAMED GIRL who was photographed sitting in a hospital bed wearing a dress covered in the debris of her home. None of the photographs of her in this series of images show her crying, one harrowing image of her in particular shows her looking blankly and directly through the lens of the camera while the children around her sit in hospital beds staring into the distance.

UPDATES & AVAILABILITY

FRAGMENT 01 | 12 SEPT 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 02 | 12 SEPT 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 03 | 13 SEPT 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 04 | 13 SEPT 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 05 | 14 Sept 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 06 | 14 Sept 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 07 | 15 Sept 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 08 | 15 Sept 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 09 | 16 Sept 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 10 | 16 Sept 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 11 | 17 Sept 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 12 | 17 Sept 2016 - SOLD

FRAGMENT 13 | 18 Sept 2016 - SOLD
FRAGMENT 14 | 18 Sept 2016 - SOLD

PROJECT CONCLUSION

This project was one of the most difficult I’ve ever undertaken.

Physically yes, I struggled at times creating 2 artworks a day on top of my usual workload, but the research that led to each piece shook me emotionally. I cried every single day of the project, spending hours of each day looking at photographs that had been released in the mainstream media of children suffering, dead, and who had accepted conflict as the norm, as well as hundreds of images that were deemed too much for the general public - released directly by journalists through Twitter and alternative sources of uncensored media. Of course the emotional discomfort I felt is nothing compared to what these people are experiencing every single day - some of them have never known anything else. 2.9 million in fact, have known nothing but war for their entire lives.

Call it purposeful and blissful ignorance, but I’ve always avoided exposing myself to news stories that revealed the inhumanity in humanity. I always worried, by seeing the abhorrent behaviour by individuals and governments alike which continues to happen across the globe, that my work would lose its charm - a separation from reality, it’s childlike innocence and it's playfulness.. And as I learned of countless stories from inside and the escape from the conflict, I woefully came to a realisation that was articulated by a quote I found later in my research:
“there are no children any more. Only small adults.” almost everything that constitutes a happy childhood has been ripped away from children by this 5-year civil war.

I’ve learnt a lot over the past week. I’ve read about of the horrors of war, I’ve seen death, disfiguration, mourning, desperation and helplessness - among people who are more similar to myself and those I love, than not. On a personal level I’ve been angry, felt helplessness and have realised that my work is not just a reflection of the world I keep in my head, but that it can be an optimistic view of a world I would like to live in.

I took still and moving images of children who were broken, who were injured and who are making the very best of the cards they have been dealt, and turned them into images of children who were free of suffering. Who stood in stillness. Who were saved from seeing and experiencing things many of us are lucky to have never seen or experienced. My aim wasn’t to sterilise these images for a wider audience, but to make a difference for myself and for others the only way I know how - through my work.

I wanted FRAGMENTS to be a reminder that every image or story we share for a moment, are fragments of lives that are stories too intricate to retell through an image (whether that be photography, video, or art). They are lives that are complex like ours, but that go on to live through a seemingly never ending war.

A huge thanks to those of you who bought a FRAGMENT from the series. Your contribution alone can buy a family food for one month, but together the funds donated to Care Australia can do the following:

Provide 93 women with hygiene kits
Feed 14 families for one month
Provide over 46 families with safe toilets
Provide safe accommodation for over 9 families

Thanks Again

How To

Using Your Craft to Build a Community

Sha'an d'Anthes · June 16, 2016

Recently I spoke at the Semi Permanent design conference in Sydney alongside Gemma O'Brien and Breana Bunce. We gave a masterclass on how to use your craft to build a community and more specifically how to use social media to foster an audience. The masterclass included a 40 minute conversation between Gemma and I (mediated by Bre), a demo from yours-truly based around the idea of using social media as a storytelling tool, and a hands-on workshop by Gemma on how to recreate her incredible hand-drawn script.

It ran really smoothly! The crowd was awesome and we got a lot of great feedback (someone said they got the more out of our two hour session than they did the whole three-day conference! Insane!) - it was a shame that the talk was only open to a fraction of the attendees of the conference. A lot of these points were covered throughout the panel, and have also been sent through to me in the form of emails, Tumblr asks, snaps, and hidden Facebook messages buried in secret inboxes that I only find out about years later, so I thought it would be useful to young creatives and creators in general to tackle the topic here on the journal.

You ready?

That question: How did you first get started posting your work on social media?

I've answered this before plenty of times in interviews and podcasts so I'm sorry to those who have heard it before. For those who haven't, and for those who want to take another trip down memory lane, here it goes.. I started as everyone does, a complete amateur - hungry (still am) to learn new skills and elated by the prospect of being able to translate my ideas to paper, I had been drawing my whole life and always interested in mark-making but it wasn't until later that I began exploring new mediums and sharing my work online.

During my final year of high school, I started a Tumblr page when I should have been studying. It's become a total cliche but I had no idea what my blog would turn into or that I would even post my work there, it started as a space to store my tidbits - brief thoughts, phone photos and scans of my film photography. After posting a scan of one of my drawings online, it became really apparent that the internet was not only for embedding glitter icons and choosing which song would represent you best on your MySpace profile - but that the internet was the perfect environment for reaching a prospective audience and connecting with other like-minded creatives.

If you were to start over how would you go about it?

I don't know if I'd change anything. Things have been pretty sweet.

I get the idea that people are really terrified to share their work online, and while there are definitely risks (things like copyright infringement, copy-cats and sourceless sharing) I've found that the positives have greatly outweighed the negatives. It's a lot easier to begin sharing on any platform when you don't have an agenda - the important thing is to experience and experiment with how you use each channel and focus on creating awesome work.

Snapchat is relatively new for me, so I'm currently beginning from scratch so-to-speak. It's so new that there's no one way to post - no formula like there seems to be on Instagram. I'm just doing my thing, capturing it, having fun and everyone seems to be responding really nicely to it. The advice I always give to people with similar questions on how to approach sharing what they do online is to be genuine, show what you're interested in, and just do your thing - the internet is such a huge place that we've seen so many niches been carved out by individuals simply doing what they love.

Statistically Instagram doesn't make the top lists when it comes to sharing/engagement, why do you think Instagram meets yours and the needs of other visual artists so well?

One thing that sets Instagram apart is that its primarily a visual platform, and what I mean by that is that you need to post something visual, either a photograph or video, where as other platforms either allow you to post a range of media, or encourage text based posts in which you can attach accompanying visuals. It's this uncluttered format which means the visually-orientated creatives can focus on and experiment with creating rich imagery without really worrying about everything else. It also means that as an online space, users expect and are interested in seeing captivating visual content first and foremost.

Snapchat is one of the top 5 fastest growing platforms, what are you seeing as the strengths of this channel.

It took me a while to get onto Snapchat, I was under the impression that only tweeni-boppers used it to send nudes to each other and didn't see how it would be relevant to what I do until after I began using it. Once you get your head around the gestural navigation it's really easy to use - there isn't much pre-meditation involved from the perspective of an individual because the content will be gone in 24 hours, and that's actually very freeing. I think something that is appealing to Snapchat users, myself included, is the authenticity that the temporariness breeds. I use it mostly as a sort of BTS to what people see on Instagram and an insight into what's going on in my studio - an instant vlogging platform, useful for sharing videos of myself hanging out with other people's dogs.

Instagram has evolved from an image editing and sharing platform into something much more complex, and in doing so has become a lot more contrived.. wait, maybe that's the wrong word.. more devised(?). Even though I post in relative real-time I definitely, to some extent, art direct and curate my feed for the sake of flow and consistency. When you look at social platforms as a means for storytelling it can be useful to post thoughtfully as well as genuinely. The Instagram we've come to know is more mediated than it used to be - it's become a place where we're used to being advertised to, and a place where it's become necessary to state something is 'not a sponsored post' in order to prove your opinion is genuine. There used to be a time where Instagram acted as a little window into someone else's world, and while that's still quite true today, those windows are just a little more polished than they used to be. Snapchat is still a really young platform, and I think the rawness of posts and perceived authenticity is really, really refreshing.

How deeply should I engage with my audience? How often do you have a one to one conversation with your followers?

This really depends on how much free time I have. Being responsive to your audience can be as time consuming as having a part time job if you let it. Your social channels should compliment what you do and not obstruct your creative process, so while I think it's important to engage with your audience, not to the extent where you're spending more time managing a community than engaging with your practice. In the same vein, if your livelihood and business relies on the audience you've fostered online, answering important questions and responding to people's feedback is definitely positive - I think a lot of us sometimes forget that each unit and number is a real-life person who's experience with you is individual and not collective to how you conduct yourself across all of your social channels.

How regularly should I post?

I used to try to post daily, but that got exhausting very quickly especially while I was working an agency job four days a week. I think that consistency is important (consistency in quality of posts, and consistency in regularity of posts), but I definitely don't think you should be creating work specifically for social media if your practice doesn't call for it. Christian Watson of 1924us, an illustrator who works predominantly in branding, is a great example of someone who does this well. His feed is coherent, his storytelling is engaging, the posts are always on brand and the dude averages like 3 posts a day! This regularity does have a specific effect - I regularly visit his page even if I don't see him on my feed because I know there will always be something new. I think three posts or more a day is definitely on the extreme end of the spectrum and quality is definitely > quantity, but if you can manage both, go for it!

What kind of posts drive engagement?

Video is huge at the moment. It's most of what we're seeing on Facebook, it's heavily bumped up on Instagram's explore page and it's super-engaging content. It's also a really important storytelling vessel; people want to be involved in your process no matter how mundane you consider it to be - they aren't in your world, so the role of social media as a storytelling tool is to help them be apart of it. With video content becoming so easy to create (the timelapse feature on our iPhones, Facebook's live video and the ease of use of Snapchat) - there are no excuses to not be onto that shit.

Is offline activity important?

Offline activity is absolutely important. All social platforms have a shelf-life, so think about what you want to be left with without the followers/subscribers/likes/comments - we need to work towards something more substantial than just data. That doesn't mean that the two can't work hand in hand; things like exhibitions and conferences are two examples of "real-life" things that boost my online engagement (through magazines/digital publishing, word of mouth online etc). Experiencing something in a tactile way is so much more immersive than seeing it in a tiny square - it can be a lot more emotionally fulfilling and more likely to drive meaningful engagement online than a share or seeing a video.

Your social media following is now so strong that brands value it as an ad space, and want to associate themselves with that. How do you manage the commercial demands on your professional identity?

There's a lot of controversy around influencer content that has been paid for by brands or initiated by agencies, but I think there's a point to be made and a line to be drawn between selling your opinion and selling your services. This may be a massive generalisation (mainly because I'm an outsider looking in), but the monetisation of fashion blogging is a great example of influential people wearing and selling brand's clothing by implying these brands are who they would normally choose to wear (when in some cases this isn't true). While I don't feel personally affected by it, I can definitely understand people's ethical concerns. In the case of working with brands as an illustrator/creative - we are posting what we would be posting anyway - our solutions to creative briefs, process images and projects we were proud to be apart of. I've worked on both social and non-social based content/creative, and in the case of the former I've been very selective and specific about the kinds of briefs I take on.

I make sure to work with brands that I like and believe in, and if I plan on posting the job to social I make sure the content that I post is native to my feed, and is interesting to my audience. I do not take on social campaigns where I'm specifically asked to post or speak to my audience in a certain way, in fact the small percentage of social-based work I actually agree to, are projects that I want to work on from an experience/illustration perspective and those in which I have creative control.

What advice do you have on managing the tension between contractual demands and artistic integrity?

I think it comes down to having a strong identity and brand. If you have a strong sense of who you are as a creative and even as a person you will automatically have a distinct line drawn between what you will and will not do, and in turn a strong set of values to go along with it. This is important in situations where you're presented with a brief or a contract as you can easily spot things you'll need to change to suit who you are, which by the way is something you can do.

I find myself reading articles about the power of 'yes', but guys the power of 'no' is a fantastic thing! I've been presented with contracts or briefs that make me uncomfortable (because of things like lack of creative freedom, or the requirement that be too advertise-y) and every time I've flat-out refused. By doing so I'm not only maintaining the quality/integrity of the work I produce, but often the brief or contract will come back amended to suit my audience and I. Speaking from a non-social perspective, the power of no is important when it comes to the licensing of creative material, and budgets. Do not sell yourself short - creativity is the lifeblood of our industry and young creatives are some of our most valuable yet under-valued resources.

If there's anything I'd like you to leave with (I know there's already an information overload here) it's these four points:

1. Be yourself (sorrynotsorry for the cliche). Make your own niche, let your audience find you, and stop looking at other people as a compass - forge your own path.

2. Find consistency. Without being overtly formulaic or predictable, be consistent aesthetically (in your style of posts, in editing) and in regularity (how often you post).

3. Tell beautiful stories. The way you tell your story is super, super important - figure out how you can tell genuine stories beautifully. On Instagram I do this in a number of ways: I use time-lapses to show how I made something from start to finish giving people a literal sense of how I do what I do, and I use flat lays to show the aura of a work. Show more than just a static image of what you made, show how you made it, why you made it, the materials you used, where you were when you made it and what you were eating at the time (just for kicks).

4. Focus on creating great work. This is probably my most important point. While this entire post is about social media - at the heart of success of any kind is hard work and determination. Focus on creating something great, and the rest will fall into place.

I really hope this was useful, and I'm sorry again that all of my journal posts are so incredibly long - I talk a lot! If there's anything else you'd like to know, any follow up questions you have or anything else related to social media, building a community or puppies please leave them in the comments below. Maybe we can put together a part two!

S

All photographs captured by Toby Peet

Travel

Chasing Quiet

Sha'an d'Anthes · April 25, 2016

It's been four months since we got back from The States and I finally got around to getting my film developed. You may have already seen the posts I made on Instagram, but I thought I would share some of my favourite photographs with you here because I don't want to chuck-a-grandma and give you holiday slide night when you haven't asked for it.

One of my favourite things about travelling with Rocket, is that we're after the same thing. That feeling of being small and the quietness that comes along with it is something that we chase. For most of our trip through the Pacific North West late last year, we found ourselves in some of the most beautiful places we had ever been, mostly due to the fact that before we had left for the USA, Rocket spent many a late night favouriting places on Google Maps to the point where there were literally hundreds of little stars spread across his laptop screen.

Just over six years ago, on the day that I turned seventeen, Rocket gave me my first analogue camera - a Pentax P30. Since then I have cherished it, have loved film photography and have picked up a couple of other cameras along the way. Just before we left my dear friend Chris Loutfy was able to source a camera I had been after - the Contax G1.

I was aching to give my new camera a go, and so as I usually do when we travel left my digital camera at home. This leave behind is purposeful, and has been for years. Most of the beauty in film, for me, are the imperfections that come along with it; the flaws in the photograph because of the old mechanisms of the camera, and the raw moments filled with flaws that you unknowingly capture when you release the shutter. Being satisfied with taking just one shot is so valuable when you want to experience the moment, and any mistakes you make or imperfections you capture become cherished and accurate memories when you get the negatives back weeks (or in this case, months) later.

On a walking trail to Wallace Falls (Washington), I thought about how we represent our travels and experiences separate from the familiar. I thought about how much gets lost in translation on postcards, in Facebook albums, and even in video. Even if you share what you saw and what you heard, you still aren't accurately portraying your experiences and the viewer is most certainly not feeling what it felt like standing on that dirt track, under those mossy trees, on that trail. And even if they've been there before, they don't know how you felt on that day standing in that forest.

It was then that I took out my iPhone and created a voice memo of the silence. The crunching of my boots on leaves, the running water of a river, the hum of the trees around me - silence which wasn't silence at all, but wasn't noise either. I'm going to listen to these minute-long memos when revisiting these photographs, and when I'm searching for inspiration for my paintings. I've since become consumed with the notion of never really being able to share your experiences with someone unless you're literally sharing those experiences with someone.

In all of the places we found ourselves - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, New York City or somewhere in between - we found that feeling we were after - of smallness.. or rather, remembering that there are things so much bigger than you or your goals or the hustle. Of course we saw friends, made friends and visited family, we ate a lot, laughed a lot, and did a hell-of-a-lot of driving, and while all of those things made my heart sing, nothing screamed bliss and wonder louder than sharing the quiet we found in the wilderness.

Here's to more quiet moments.

Studio, FAQ, Lists

An Extensive List of Things : Pt I (Art Materials)

Sha'an d'Anthes · February 14, 2016

Bleep, I know it's been a while and while I had had well-wishes that it wouldn't be so long in-between journal entries, today I begin a long-awaited series which I've aptly named An Extensive List of Things. Part I is going to be a compilation of brands and materials that I use most in the studio, and will hopefully be useful to some of you out there in internet-land.

I want to preface this journal entry by explicitly stating that it is not all about the brands, materials, and products you use. What's most important is practice, practice, practice, and while some materials may produce better results, if you have no idea what you're doing there's no point in spending hundreds of dollars on something you're essentially practicing on if you can use something a hell-of-a-lot cheaper. Think of it like this: you've bought some brand, spankin' new & expensive activewear, just to run a marathon you haven't even trained for.

I don't propel my body into motion on purpose or on the regular, nor do I own activewear but I can safely say I've been experimenting and working with different brands and materials for the entirety of my career, and through this process I've learnt countless valuable things about myself as a creative and what works best for me when crafting my work.

Before I get rid of this nasally, lecture-y voice, I just want to reiterate (out of love) that while it's fine for you to be curious about how your favourite creatives do what they do, that should not shear off any the time you spend trying things out for yourself. Okay, mum-voice off - I'm ready. You ready?

PAPER

Paper is by far one of the most important things I spend my $$$ on, and probably where I spend the majority of it because I go through it so quickly. Over the years, through very loose loyalty, I've bought, tried, tested, loved & hated a dozen different brands, but found a taste for the more expensive stuff. I'll also include my most frequented cheaper papers too because I do use them often and there will always be a place for it in my studio.

Arches 640gsm Watercolour Paper (Cold-Pressed)

Arches is a brand that I've used for years, not just because of it's availability at all of my art supplies stores, but because their paper is really great quality, made with 100% cotton fibres (according to wikipedia, each percentage point is equivelent to one year of deterioration resistance), and they're available in a huge range of weights and textures - whatever your style or medium, I can assure you there is an Arches watercolour paper that will work for you.

I have tested all the weights available to me (I started really light), but as my pieces got larger and larger I started using the 640gsm stuff and found that this. This. Is my stuff. So much so that I recently spent about $800 on a 10m x as-tall-as-me roll of the Fabriano equivalent. While my staple single sheets don't reach the hundreds, they add up with a single sheet costing around $25. As I mentioned they have a huge range of different weights so if you're unsure whether you need something so heavy go with the cheaper options first - I still use 300gsm for smaller paintings and for artworks I plan to scale into bigger pieces.

Canson 185gsm Aquarelle Paper

This was the brand I started using back in 2010 when I tried watercolour for the first time. While I wouldn't use it now for a painting, at the time it served it's purpose (it came in booklets of 100 for around $35) and I still use it for sketching and quick watercolour studies.

Daler Rowney HeavyWeight Drawing Paper

This is a small tear-away booklet (250mmx250mm) at 220gsm, and is awesome for most drawing mediums. I often get asked what paper is best for Copic Markers (which tend to bleed across and through pages), and this would be my favourite.

Tracing Paper

Tracing paper isn't something I use very often, but it is something that I've needed from time to time whether it's refining sketches before upscaling them into paintings, or working on the initial stages of design projects (handy for when going through client feedback and making amends to sketches you're already happy with). I don't use it enough to have preference, but the pad sitting in my studio at the moment is 50 sheets of 110gsm. You couldn't use this stuff for water-based liquid mediums (many pens, inks, watercolours), due to the waxiness of the paper anything water-based will be repelled and end up in tiny puddles only slightly resembling what you originally envisioned.

BRUSHES

When it comes to brushes, I'm not loyal to any brands. I own anything from the cheapest synthetic brush picked up last-minute at an office-supplies store, to an expensive watercolour brush with natural fibres and materials which they no longer make anymore. When I am buying a new brush I will go by my past experience as well as how the brushes feel rather than which is most-expensive, or which brand is said to be the best. In this section: I've included accompanying gifs so you can see how differently each brush fills and creates strokes, I'm referring to and speaking about the brushes I use for liquid mediums (and not things like acrylic or oils), and I'm also going to focus on the types of brushes I use, and less so on the brands.

Round Brush

This is my go to - my most-used brush by far - and that's because round brushes are incredibly versatile. The round brushes I own are bulbous for the most part, but then taper into a soft point - this means I can get a huge range of different line-weights simply by varying pressure. I often buy synthetic for these because I find them to be a lot softer and more durable (which is important in maintaining the neatness of the fibres and that soft point at the end).

Another great thing about these brushes (a list that seems to be never-ending), is that because they have such volume to them, the fibres hold water and pigment really well which is essential for me because I don't want to have to reapply paint with every stroke. If you work with watercolour and/or ink, I would definitely give this type of brush a go if you haven't already.

Flat Brush

I use these babies quite infrequently however they do come in handy. Where the round brush lacks in stability/firmness the flat brush rushes in to pick up the slacl. You may have seen me use one recently in the painted-sketch of the red-head and the fox - this snippet is the perfect example of what I would use the flat brush for: for filling in blocks of colour which require sharp and bold edges.

I would not recommend using this brush if you're trying to blend different colours together because the motion in which you blend a liquid medium is looser, and the firmness/straightness of the flat brush bristles (the ones I own are quite short) mean that paint can splatter across your page - not ideal if, like me, you use a lot of negative white space.

A.J. Leeman Hobbies Synthetik Sable Brush

This next brush is a little tough. I don't know much about the brand, and they don't have much of a background - at least not online. I've tried researching them before because I thought the brandname sounded so hilarious and from what I found, A.J Leeman Hobbies just seems to be an Australian hobby company who also happen make brushes (maybe for painting figurines?). Either way, I love this brush - I primarily use it for outlining artworks in watercolour and in gouache, the tiny tip (Size 3/0) is both short and thin which means even with a lot of pressure the stroke isn't more than a couple of millimeters in width. See me use it for filling in colour at the beginning of this snippet from my Snapchat story for a miniature bat painting.

Another nice little feature that I really appreciate is the triangular handle, which means when you set the brush down it A. doesn't roll away (onto your painting or otherwise), and B. it lifts the end of the brush off of the surface you're working on. Anything that reduces my mess is a tick in my books. I only randomly stumbled upon this brush in a small-ish local art/craft/book shop - so I'm not sure how easy they are to get your hands on.

Pentel Aquash Water Brush

This is brands start to come into it (because I only own one of these). I picked this Pentel Water Brush up in Portland on our trip to the US/Canada earlier in the year - I wanted to paint in the car and having a jar of water in the cupholder next to me was not an option when driving through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I've yet to use this on a real-life painting so my opinion on this brush isn't as fully-formed as the others but it's great for not having to reapply pigment your brush often, and it's great for creating harmonious colour palettes because while painting your brush strokes will go from a dark, rich colour to a soft wash.

In the past I've picked up similar pens and filled them with ink, and I've heard of other artists, illustrators and letterers doing the same, however I would rather buy a black brush pen than do this because the ink (at least the stuff I use) dries up and makes the pen virtually unusable.

WATERCOLOUR

I've always been interested in art, ever since I was a tiny, little version of who I am now, but it wasn't until I started using watercolour in 2010 did I really find a medium that allowed me to most accurately depict what was going on in my head. There is so much I love about this medium: the way it moves across the paper, the low impact it has both on the environment and my sensitive skin, the process of mixing and layering and the way it has become an extension of my fingertips. I have a lot to say about it, but I will try to keep it a reasonable length similar to the other materials mentioned above, for consistency's sake if nothing else.

Sennelier French Artists' Watercolour Tubes

Rocket surprised me with this twelve tube set for my 21st birthday, although I've had other sets briefly in between but I still feel like that's an incredible amount of time to have one set of paints (I'm not even close to finishing any of the colours). I had never used nor heard of Sennelier before I got them, but I'm so glad I did because they've been my favourite thus far.

Some interesting things about Sennelier French Artist watercolours: they mimic the colours used by French watercolourists and have hundreds of colours to choose from, another (and one of my favourite) fun facts about this product is that they use honey as a sort of preservative which makes the paint really smooth, and the drying time a little slower - perfect for bleeding and blending.

I would definitely recommend these to creatives everywhere, but if you're starting out and you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on paints you could also try brands like Windsor & Newton who offer a range of student watercolours (which actually aren't so bad).

Schminke Travel Tin

I call it a travel tin, but really it's the Schminke 12 Half-Pan Watercolour Set in the Aluminium Tin. I picked up this adorable tin in Singapore when I was there last and it served me well as a travel set - it's compact, and having panned pigment means there's no risk of the tubes bursting due to plane air pressure - things are a lot less messy.

In short I prefer wet watercolour but I like to have a cheaper panned travel set that I can throw into my bag when I travel just in case (because it's for certain) that I'll get that creative itch while I'm away. I'll save my panned (dry) vs tubed (wet) watercolour debate for another post.

INK

Ink is one of those mediums where the difference between good and bad can have huge consequences. When deciding what kind of ink to use you need to ask yourself, is it a fine artwork? Is it a commercial job? What do I want from this ink? What am I looking for? The reason why you need to ask these questions is because you need to decide how much permanence your project requires. It's okay to use cheap and nasty ink on a commercial job if the output is something other than the original work whether it be something you're designing to be printed, or something that you're going to digitise for life on screen. However if the final output is the artwork itself - for say, a show or a commission - you need to ask yourself how much longevity you're willing to sacrifice.

The blue ink I used in my last journal entry by Winsor & Newton looked really awesome, and as blue as it is on screen, but it wasn't light-fast. After sitting in my studio for a couple of weeks, the blues began to fade and the colour went from being a vibrant Ultramarine to more of a faded Purple-Indigo (granted I was also using a paper I haven't used before, so it could be a combination). The bottle will usually tell whether or not your ink is waterproof, lightproof as well as any other useful information, but it's also good to do your own test it if you want to make sure it's going to stand the test of time.

Sennelier Ink

I can't remember which project I originally purchased this particular bottle of ink for, but I remember buying it because of my positive experience with the Sennelier watercolours and I have no complaints so far. It's a nice warm, deep black, seems to be waterproof when layering, doesn't seem to leave obvious paint-strokes or streaks like a lot of black inks, and is lightfast. If I had to call it out for one thing, it would be that (in the dry Australian climate especially) it dries pretty fast - which can be great in some instances, but not if you're working from a palette like I do.

GOUACHE

Gouache is a lovely water-based paint which I like to describe as a happy medium between watercolour and acrylic. The reason I say this is because it's a bold and vibrant medium that will mask whatever is underneath it, but water it down or create a wash and it starts to act more like watercolour. It's something that I use to create fine outlines or for detailing, but it of course has many other uses.

Winsor & Newton Artist Gouache

I usually go with Winsor & Newton when I have very little knowledge about a medium, just because they're readily available at virtually every art supplies store, and generally has a good track record when it comes to the price and quality. I have no complaints when it comes to this produce, but as I said I only use it for outlining and detailing so I can't comment on the flatness and levelling of tis particular brand. I often mix gouache with a touch of watercolour because I don't use it enough to justify buying a huge range of colours (ie. for stinginess more so than a technical decision), and I have no complaints with it's ability in mixing media.

PENCILS

Traces of pencils aren't often found in my final artwork - I'll use them occasionally for detailing, and any graphite I use to construct images is quickly erased after a couple of layers of watercolour. Regardless of the seemingly elusive and mysterious nature of this medium to my practice, I actually use pencils a lot. If you follow me on any of my social channels you'll know how heavy the backend of my process is - I will do a number of studies and sketches before I even begin to think about putting paint to paper. The reason being, I want to feel confident that I can translate what's going on in my head into an artwork, and in order to do so I need to work out any kinks in how I'm able to articulate form and wrangle any loose ideas.

Graphite

This is another example of brands taking a backseat - I'm not loyal to any graphite pencil brands, I'm loyal to the softness of the pencil. I like to use anywhere from a 2B up to a 6B or 8B. A variation in line and darkness is really easy with a softer pencil and allows you to physically commit less to lines which for me means sketches will be more gestural and emotive. The graphite I use either comes in the traditional wooden pencil form, or in a solid graphite pencil which is great for shading but can be super messy, especially when you drag your ape-hands across the paper like I do.

Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils

Prismacolor was a brand I discovered through Instagram, I noticed a lot of artist I admired using them and thought I'd give them a go and while they aren't the only coloured pencils I use - they're my favourite and most frequented. The reason I like them is because they are a really soft vibrant pencil, (depending on the colour you're using of course) they can easily be used to detail paintings. My primary use for these is in the planning stage for artwork - because they're so soft it's really easy to get a range of strengths and weights by varying the pressure of your hand; I'll usually begin with really light construction lines and build up to really dark and bold lines.

PENS

Pens aren't a medium you'll see me using very often - I used to use them early on in my art-making for outlining and detailing when my work was more cartoonish, but these days I'll only usually be using one for writing notes, scribbling out ideas, and when I'm travelling for quick rendering. Although they aren't something I use often, I still have preference over the types of pens I buy and use.

Felt-Tipped Fineliners

I love felt-tipped fineliners, they're my favourite to write with (note-taking, idea scribbling and beyond) as they glide across the paper. I like that they cross over from being a stationary staple, to being a fine-art material (great for drawing, my favourite of which are Artline fineliners & Copic Multiliners.

Copic Fineliners have to be my favourite as they are waterproof after drying which means you can use watercolours or other pens afterwards to render your lined illustrations, they're a lovely warm, rich black, and they come in an incredible range of different nib shapes and sizes. Artline fineliners are a cheaper option and are a cool black, they aren't waterproof so will bleed when wet but are great for writing, or for simple doodling.

Copic Ciao Coloured Markers

Another favourite from Copic, these are the pens I use to render sketchbook illustrations on-the-go. These markers are great because they come in a huge range of colours, are vibrant, they have a nib on each end (one soft brush, one rigid broad nib) which allow you to achieve a range of line weights and styles, they blend together well when wet and are refillable. Having a few different colours can really help you wrap your head around developing palettes for your work.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd that's all folks - we're done with pt. I of the series (yay, you made it!). It feels so refreshing to be able to communicate long-hand through my journal and it's been a pleasure to be able to share my years of trial and error with you.

Happy Valentines Day!

Food Guide 2015 (USA/CANADA)

Sha'an d'Anthes · January 13, 2016

WELCOME TO 2016!

It's no secret that I'm a massive lover-of-food, it shares as much of the spotlight on my Instagram feed as it does on my workbench and in my life. Having just got back from our trip up North, I thought it appropriate to document a handful of our favourite places to eat on a budget (the Aussie dollar is bad, yo), and seeing as I uncharacteristically didn't take photos of any of these meals, I thought making it an illustrated listicle would be a nice self-initiated mini-project to kick off 2016.

•

S alt & Straw 240 N. LARCHMONT BLVD, LOS ANGELES

Would defs recommend: Sea Salt Ice-cream with Caramel Ribbons - better than Messina's Salted Caramel & White Chocolate Chip (if you knew me you'd know that's a huge deal for me).

Gjelina 1429 ABBOT KINNEY BLVD, LOS ANGELES (VENICE)

Would defs recommend: Smoked Trout Salad and the Niman Ranch Lamb Burger. Great service, delicious grub and a beautiful courtyard. Edible and Instagram-mable.

Drunky's Two Shoe BBQ 4105 LEARY WAY NW, SEATTLE

Would defs recommend: the 1/4 rack of ribs (times two), the cornbread, and the potato salad. We stumbled upon this place on our way to Capitol Hill and ended up heading here twice on two separate occasions for a rib fix, this place was absolutely ace and the interior decor was hilarious.

Papa Haydn 701 NW 23RD AVE, PORTLAND

Would defs recommend: the Lemon Chiffon Cake, Hood River Crisp (Google it), Lemon Meringue Tart, Spiced "Buttered" Steamer (Seasonal). We escaped the Oregon weather twice at Papa Haydn, this isn't everything we had and we very soon learnt our lesson NOT to order one cake each after having dinner at Pok Pok. P.S. Dessert and dinner diners are split - I walked through the dinner dining room on the way to the bathroom and their savoury looked killer too.

Pok Pok 3226 SE DIVISION ST, PORTLAND

Would defs recommend: the Yam Tuna (Tuna Salad), Kaeng Hang Leh (sweet pork belly, pork shoulder curry), Vegetarian Khao Soi (a coconut curry noodle dish), coconut rice. Warning: we got in straight away but apparently there are usually insane lines - get there earlier than you want to eat.

Phnom Penh 244 GEORGIA ST E (CHINATOWN), VANCOUVER

Would defs recommend: the Buttered Beef (Melt in your mouth beef salad), Cambodian Chicken Curry, and the Fried Rice. This was one of those places you find online that doesn't have a website and looks dodgy as hell but is busy and tastes like a slice of heaven - had we had more time in Vancouver we would have visited again.

Shake Shack 366 COLOMBUS AVE (AT WEST 77TH ST), NEW YORK CITY

Would defs recommend: the Shackburger, a side of cheese fries, pink lemonade, a gingerbread shake and heading next door to the American Museum of Natural History afterwards.

•

This was just a taste of the wonderful food we got to experience - I wish I had the time to illustrate and list them all! As you may have seen on Snapchat (@furrylittlpeach) I'm currently on an elimination diet to see if any of the foods I eat cause my skin flare-ups - this means no gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy, certain meats, certain fruit and veg for 4-6 weeks before slowly introducing them back into my life. Reliving the amazing food we ate on our trip was torture! Got a favourite food joint in the USA/Canada? Let me know in the comments below - I want to start my list for my next trip to the States.

More journal posts coming very soon!